It Looks Like It's Made of Legos to Me

 

 

 

I wish this wasn't real, but it is...

 It is not what we expected, and not what most of us want. This year’s Vatican creche has been laughed at and ridiculed for looking like a science fiction story or children’s toys. One figure was often described as looking like Darth Vader, though to me he looks more like a Sontaran from Doctor Who. More excitable people called it demonic, pagan, and idolatrous. Conservative English writer Tim Stanley called it “absolutely terrifying” in a tweet. This tweet from Edward Pentin has a short video of the whole creche.

“At the end of this extremely difficult year people are looking for beauty, for something to elevate, inspire, and unite them, and the scene offered in Saint Peter’s Square gives them something else altogether,” said the art historian Elizabeth Lev. “The misshapen figures in the Nativity scene lack all the grace, proportion, vulnerability, and luminosity that one looks for in the manger scene. The entire point of this holiday is the second person of the Holy Trinity taking human form, born as a baby of flesh and blood, and there is nothing particularly human about the forms we see before us.”...

 The creche is embarrassing. It’s not the depiction of the birth of our Lord faithful Catholics want and the world needs to see. I’ve often complained that Catholics ought to be more careful about airing our dirty laundry before the world, or allowing our internal debates over theology and praxis to become stumbling blocks to those outside the Church. I don’t want to give scandal with this piece. I want to admit the obvious — this creche is comically awful — but I also want to try to put it in some perspective.

On a Scale of 1 to 10, I Give This -5 Chance of Actually Working

 Great news! The Catholic Church has solved all its problems! Time to move on to hectoring the Jews and Muslims!

CNA Staff, Jul 2, 2020 / 11:01 am MT (CNA).- Ahead of possible Israeli action to annex Palestinian territories, Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin met with the ambassadors of the United States and Israel June 30.

The Holy See press office said July 1 that the meetings with Callista Gringrich, the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, and Oren David, her Israeli counterpart, took place “in order to express the concern of the Holy See regarding possible unilateral actions that may further jeopardize the search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the delicate situation in the Middle East.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See told CNA July 2: “Ambassador Gingrich had a productive meeting with Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin on Tuesday. They discussed a range of issues, including our common goal of peace in the Middle East.”

In its statement on Wednesday the Holy See reiterated that Israel and the State of Palestine “have the right to exist and to live in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.”

“It thus appeals to the parties to do everything possible to reopen the process of direct negotiation, on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, and aided by measures that can reestablish reciprocal confidence,” said the Holy See Press Office. 

Citing Pope Francis' June 8, 2014, prayer for peace in the Holy Land, the press office said all actions should be taken so that the parties may have “the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities; yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to sincerity and no to duplicity.”

WHo the Heck is in Charge Here?

Rome, Italy, Mar 12, 2020 / 01:15 pm (CNA).- The vicar general of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, announced Thursday the closure of all churches in the diocese through April 3
.
Since March 9 public Masses have been canceled throughout the diocese, but churches had remained open for personal prayer, and some had held Eucharistic adoration or confession.

Starting from the decree's publication March 12, entrance to the parish and other churches of Rome is forbidden to the general public and to lay Catholics. 

Has anyone informed the Bishop of Rome?

I'm Sure They Convinced the Team to Change Their Minds

 Menken wrote about Puritans, but the same holds true for feminists and liberals in general.

"Someone who is deathly afraid that someone, somewhere, is having fun."

Vienna, Austria, Jun 23, 2019 / 08:10 am (CNA).- The international debut of the Vatican women's football team, which was scheduled to play in a friendly against the Vienna FC Mariahilf Saturday, was cancelled after abortion and LGBT activists disrupted the game before it began, local media reported.

According to several local media reports, players of the Viennese soccer team Mariahilf lifted their jerseys whilst the Vatican anthem was playing, displaying painted ovaries and pro-abortion messages. Activists also displayed LGBT banners on the sidelines at the venue.

The Vatican team, who had been invited to Vienna by FCM, decided not to go ahead with the June 22 match.

The Apostolic Nuncio in Austria, Pedro Lopez Quintana, witnessed the protests but was not involved in the decision to cancel the game, local media reported.

The friendly was scheduled to kick off in the early afternoon in a sports arena in Wien-Simmering. Beforehand, both sides had participated in a prayer service and blessing of the pitch.

Austrian state broadcaster ORF quoted one of the FCM players involved in the protest as saying the activists were "not aware of the consequences of their action in any way and would have liked to play the football match".

Shut Up, I Explained

 

ROME, Italy, April 1, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis criticized governments who make border walls, saying, “He who builds a wall will become a prisoner of the wall he built.”
The comment came in response to a question at the Vatican from Spanish journalist Jordi Evole. After thanking the Pope for the “privilege” of the interview, Evole asked, "What do you think of the proposals of some presidents, such as Donald Trump, to raise up a wall between the United States and Mexico to avoid the wave of migrants?"
The pope answered, “He who builds a wall ends up a prisoner of the wall he built. That’s a universal law. That is what happens on the social and the personal levels. If you build up a wall between people, you will end up a prisoner of the wall you raised up.”
Apparently responding to critics advocating for national sovereignty who say “‘Yes, but I am defending my autonomy,’” the Pope answered, “‘You’re defining yourself as mushroom.’ He’s a prisoner.”

 MEANWHILE TO THE SOUTH...


Cuernavaca, Mexico, Apr 2, 2019 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The Bishop of Cuernavaca, Mexico has encouraged Catholics to intensify their prayers for peace, after the publication of a report that 15 Mexican cities figure among the most violent in the world.
Mexico’s Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice prepares each year a list of the 50 most violent cities in the world, on the basis of the number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. The March 12 report said that during 2018 the most dangerous global cities were Tijuana and Acapulco.

Victoria, Juárez and  Irapuato hold fourth, fifth and sixth place. Further down the list are Cancún, Culiacán, Uruapan, Obregón, Coatzacoalcos, Celaya, Ensenada, Tepic, Reynosa and Chihuahua.

Caracas, Venezuela, holds third place. Only eight cities are not in Latin America. 

Prepare to be Saddened

Crises and scandals have gathered at the Vatican in the past month. This pontificate is spreading chaos and confusion. 

We are all familiar with parody Twitter accounts; someone called Donald J. Trump has a really rather good one going at the moment. When I read the words of a senior Vatican official recently, on the Twitter feed of the Catholic Herald, it seemed just so obvious. A Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorando, according to the report, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences — it sounds like a job of soul-destroying tedium but is in fact a rather significant position — had described the one country in the world that, in the bishop’s words, was “best implementing the social doctrine of the Church.” That would be the People’s Republic of China. 

 China is the country that had a remarkably successful try at enforcing a one-child policy, promoting massive abortion (a figure of more than 300 million has been suggested) — sex-selective, with boys highly favored for birth, girls for elimination — enforced sterilization, and execution of criminals. And, of course, the one-party state persecutes the Church and imprisons human-rights advocates. Bishop Sánchez, who said he had been to China and seen all this good work in person, so it must be true, probably wouldn’t agree with Cardinal Joseph Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, who recently protested the imminent decision of the Vatican to recognize the government-sponsored, quisling “Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.” That move would be at the expense of the members of the “underground” Catholic Church, which has stayed loyal to the Vatican and suffered persecution for decades. Zen said that the Vatican, and by that he means Pope Francis, was “ready to surrender to the Chinese Communist Party” — again, perfectly fine if it excelled at implementing the social doctrine of the Church.

Read the whole thing. Here's the final paragraph:

You can hide the rubbish in the streets only for so long. Eventually it overflows, out into the open. When the Church should be speaking with a clear and direct voice, it is instead spreading confusion, misunderstanding, and scandal. Francis famously called for the people to make a “mess” in the Church. To youth in Rio de Janeiro, he said in January 2013, “I want a mess. . . . I want trouble in the dioceses.” It seems, for now, he has got his wish.

George Weigel Takes the Vatican To The Woodshed (it's about China)

 

Negotiating with the Devil has never been the long suit of Vatican diplomacy. The “examination of conscience” is an important part of Catholic spirituality, which always precedes confession but is ideally practiced at the end of each day: a review of what one got wrong, and what right, as preparation for an act of contrition and a prayer of thanksgiving for graces received. And while there are obvious and important differences between individual Catholics examining their conscience and Vatican diplomats reviewing the Church’s successes and failures in the thorny, dense thickets of world politics, one might have thought that this spiritual discipline would have some bearing on the diplomacy of the Holy See, if only as a reality check.

But if you thought that, you’d be hard pressed to find evidence for it in the history of Vatican diplomacy’s dealing with totalitarian regimes.
Read more at the link about the 1929 Lateran Accord with Italy, the 1933 Reich Concordiat, and...

Then came the Ostpolitik of the late 1960s and 1970s. Faced with what he once described as the “frozen swamp” of Communist repression behind the iron curtain, Pope Paul VI’s chief diplomatic agent, Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, began to negotiate a series of agreements with Communist governments. Those agreements were intended to provide for the sacramental life of the Church by facilitating the appointment of bishops, who could ordain priests, who could celebrate Mass and hear confessions, thereby preserving some minimal form of Catholic survival until Communism “changed.” And another disaster ensue.

Trust, But Verify

The Holy See has reportedly asked two Chinese bishops to stand aside to make way for illicitly ordained, Chinese government-backed counterparts.

A Vatican delegation asked Bishop Peter Zhuang of Shantou and Bishop Jospeh Guo Xijin of Mindong to retire or accept demotion in order to smooth relations with the Chinese government.
Asia News, the outlet of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, reports that 88-year-old Bishop Zhuang received a letter dated 26 October asking him to resign to make way for the government-backed Bishop Huang Bingzhang.

Bishop Huang Bingzhang.

 Bishop Huang was excommunicated in 2011 after being consecrated without Vatican approval. He is also a member of the National People’s Congress, the Chinese parliament.

Asia News reports that Bishop Zhuang was escorted to Beijing, where he met Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, former president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, who told him to retire – but with the proviso that he could nominate three priests, one of whom Bishop Huang would appoint as his vicar general.

I agree with National Review's Michael Brendan Dougherty:


 ... I find it difficult to trust the Chinese government given its history. I worry that a deal will give diplomatic cover to renew the persecution of non-conforming members of the underground Church, and heighten the policy of Sinicization. I also worry that Vatican officials, having invested so much in this approach will be slow to take offense if the Chinese government again promotes its own men against the wishes of the Church. A friend of mine who grew up in Hong Kong, and believed himself growing up as a witness to a Chinese Catholic vanguard lamented to me, “Everybody, and I mean everybody, knows somebody who was murdered, or tortured, or imprisoned or disappeared to defend the principle that was just abandoned.”

Feast of the Ass, January 14

 Last Sunday was the Feast of the Ass, or Festum Asinorum. How did the Vatican celebrate?

On January 12, OnePeterFive and The Lepanto Institute reported that Liliane Ploumen, a Dutch politician and international abortion activist, was received into the Order of St. Gregory by the Vatican in 2017 — a pontifical honor given for “meritorious service to the Church.” Multiple diplomatic sources around the Vatican have now confirmed to OnePeterFive and the Lepanto Institute that the award was given to Ploumen last year when she took part in an official state visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands to the Vatican in June of 2017.
Ploumen, who formerly served as the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation for the Dutch government, started a progressive global initiative in 2017 called “She Decides.” Self-described as “a global movement”, SheDecides is designed to:

“support the fundamental rights of girls and women to decide freely and for themselves about their sexual lives, including whether, when, with whom and how many children they have. This includes having access to modern contraception, to sexual and relationship literacy and safe abortion.”

And Then He Announced The Haitians Were Welcome to Move to Vatican CIty

Vatican City, Nov 24, 2017 / 09:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- One of the Vatican's top diplomatic voices has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's recent decision to end the Temporary Protected Status of thousands of Haitians taking refuge in the U.S., saying the country isn't yet ready for the influx after a slew of natural disasters devastated the island nation.
“That's a sad decision, because the Haitian population in the U.S. that arrived after the earthquake and after the storm that destroyed half of the island, cannot go back to a situation that still is very difficult,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told CNA Nov. 24.

 Of course, we COULD wait until Haiti is out of difficulty. Like, forever...

 Currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with close to 60% of the population living under the national poverty line, Haiti’s GDP growth rose to 5.5% in 2011 as the Haitian economy began recovering from the devastating January 2010 earthquake that destroyed much of its capital city, Port-au-Prince, and neighboring areas. However, growth slowed to below 2% in 2015 and 2016 as political uncertainty, drought conditions, decreasing foreign aid, and the depreciation of the national currency took a toll on investment and economic growth. 

 Investment in Haiti is hampered by the difficulty of doing business and weak infrastructure, including access to electricity. Haiti's outstanding external debt was cancelled by donor countries following the 2010 earthquake, but has since risen to above $2 billion as of December 2016, the majority of which is owed to Venezuela under the PetroCaribe program. Although the government has increased its revenue collection, it continues to rely on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability, with over 20% of its annual budget coming from foreign aid or direct budget support.

"And I Will Make You Fair Trade Fishers of Men"

 I am glad the Church has solved all the other problems.

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2017 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An upcoming world congress by the Catholic organization Apostleship of the Sea will focus on the plight of fishermen, who frequently face exploitation in carrying out their work, according to one Vatican official.
He lamented that no ‘Fair Trade’ certification exists for their product.
“We have to be educated,” Fr. Bruno Ciceri told CNA Sept. 20. “Frozen food here is cheap, but it’s because people are exploited, because there is forced labor, because there are trafficked people that work aboard these fishing vessels.”
Referring to the label given to products from developing countries that adhere to ethical standards of trading, he said, “We talk a lot about ‘Fair Trade.’ I don't know the day when we will have ‘fair trade’ also in fishing. That will make a difference.”

Signs, signs, Everywhere a Sign!

One day last fall I was working in my office when my desk phone rang. It was a reader of The Catholic Astronomer, calling me with a question. He asked why the Vatican Observatory blog was full of discussion on black holes or whatnot, when there was something much more momentous to talk about.

It turns out that the momentous thing to which my caller was referring was an arrangement of celestial bodies that will occur this year (2017) on September 23. On that date, according to various Internet sources, the heavens themselves will be a tableau of Revelation 12 in the Bible:

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth … She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.

On September 23, 2017 the sun will be in the zodiac constellation Virgo — “a woman clothed with the sun”. The moon will be at the feet of Virgo — “with the moon under her feet”. The ‘nine’ stars of the zodiac constellation Leo, plus three planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), will be at the head of Virgo — “on her head a crown of 12 stars”. The planet Jupiter will be in the center of Virgo, and, as the weeks pass after September 23, Jupiter will exit Virgo to the east, past her feet, so to speak — “She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth”. Jupiter is the largest of the planets, the “king” of the planets, so to speak — “She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod”.

Must this not be a sign of something momentous, like the Internet sources say?

Upon further review....

 As it is, watching the heavens for signs of what is to come is a waste of time. And it is doubly a waste of time because “signs in the sky” appeal, for some reason, to all sorts of people out there — all of whom can use Stellarium to find this or that momentous “sign” signifying whatever they want to signify.

And that is why astronomers ignore the seemingly momentous celestial arrangement of September 23, 2017, and talk instead about black holes or whatnot.

Unfortunately, NOT Eye of the Tiber Report

Has the Vatican lost its collective MIND? Who's next? Henry VIII?

January 17, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — If you happen to receive a piece of mail from the Vatican this year, don’t be surprised to see the face of Martin Luther.

The Vatican office charged with issuing stamps, known as the Philatelic and Numismatic Office, confirmed Tuesday to LifeSiteNews that Luther, who broke away from the Catholic Church in a schism 500 years ago, will be celebrated with a postage stamp in 2017. The office is in charge of the annual commission of stamps, coins, and other commemorative medals.

The Vatican regularly issues such memorabilia for special events, including papal trips and holy years. Honoring Luther and the Protestant Reformation is an unlikely choice, trumping other significant events in the Catholic Church such as the 100-year anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima and the 300-year anniversary of our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil.

Take This and Eat of It

Unlike The rest of Rome, It will be cheap and CLEAN

Rome, Italy, Jan 4, 2017 / 11:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Last week's opening of a McDonald's in a Vatican-owned property just around the corner from St. Peter's Square has been both welcomed and decried by Rome's locals.

Some Romans have expressed joy on social media at the new restaurant, noting that the area around the Vatican is filled with overpriced restaurants catering to tourists, and suggesting the McDonald's could actually be more discreet.

 Dubbed by som as "McVatican,” the new restaurant is located in a Vatican property in Rome, at the intersection of the Borgo Pio and Via del Mascheriny, just a few minutes' walk from St. Peter’s Basilica.

After having received numerous requests from different companies to move into the vacant space, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which oversees the Vatican's assets, chose to rent it to McDonald’s for 30,000 euros ($31,400) a month. The decision was announced in October 2016.

They Kept the Barbarians Out, Didn't They?

The new archbishop of Tijuana, Mexico, visited the US-Mexican border on August 11, leaned on the border fence, and said, “We need to build bridges, and tear down walls.”
Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón also said that he hoped that US presidential candidate Donald Trump “will always have people near him who will help him make a profound reflection that would allow him to re-orient his convictions ... for the benefit of the entire human community beyond the interests of one single country,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Father Patrick Murphy, who operates a shelter on the border, said that the archbishop has “worked in Michoacan, where a lot of deportees are from, and where a lot of people are coming from to ask for political asylum. He knows the reality.”

 Pope Francis was unavailable for comment.

Shoot. I Missed It.

The Vatican newspaper gave prominent front-page coverage in its August 9 edition to “Earth Overshoot Day”—the day on which, according to the Global Footprint Network, “humanity will have used up nature’s budget for the entire year.”
“We emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the oceans and forests are capable of absorbing,” L’Osservatore Romano stated. Paraphrasing the Global Footprint Network’s CEO, the newspaper emphasized that people must choose between “collapse or stability".

Don't tell the Global Footprint Network we have a new Pope!

Well, if the Global Footprint Network says it, it must me true! They are the MSNBC of the global footprint crowd!


WHAT WE DO   |   We are an international think tank that provides Ecological Footprint accounting tools to drive informed policy decisions in a resource-constrained world. We work with local and national governments, investors, and opinion leaders to ensure all people live well, within the means of one planet. 

Sistine Chapel Choir

The Sistine Chapel Choir is a winner of the 2016 Echo Klassik Prize, Germany’s highest classical music award.
The prize, which will be awarded in Berlin in October, is given in 57 categories. The choir will receive the “choral recording of the year” award for Cantate Domino, which was recorded in the Sistine Chapel and produced by Deutsche Grammophon.

I Wonder What the Copts of Egypt Think About Global Warming?

 Thankfully, the Church has solved all it's problems and can now focus on other things.....

Addressing the World Health Organization’s annual World Health Assembly, a Vatican official welcomed the call for universal health coverage in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Msgr. Jean-Marie Mupendawatu, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, also called for a greater international effort to combat climate change for the sake of global health.

“With regard to action to combat climate change and its impact on health, my delegation wishes to underscore the need for more political will and strong commitment from civil society in order to reach truly meaningful and effective global agreements on the environment,” he said. “Often international negotiations cannot make significant progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good.”

The Sack of Rome and the Swiss Guard

May 6th: The Recruits Take their Oath of Loyalty\


Vatican Radio) The sacrifice of one hundred and forty seven Swiss Guards who laid down their lives in defense of Pope Clement VII and the Holy Mother Church during the Sack of Rome in 1527 is commemorated each year on May 6.
Yet again, that important date will be remembered on Wednesday afternoon during the annual swearing-in ceremony for new Swiss Guards which takes place in the Saint Damaso Courtyard of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
 

 The Swiss Guard is the oldest standing army in the world and its motto is “Courage and Loyalty”. 2015 sees the swearing in of 32 new Guards who were received in audience by Pope Francis on Monday.
During that audience the Pope told the men who are charged with protecting him that they should pray the rosary during honor guard duty and always carry a small version of the Gospel in their pockets.
"What I tell everyone, I'll tell you too: always keep a small Gospel close at hand, read it as soon as you have a calm moment. It will help you in your personal prayer, especially the Rosary, during the honor guard," he said.
The Pope also called the audience an occasion "to nurture a meaningful friendship, because you work so close to me".
During the ceremony each new guard approaches the flag as his name is called out. Firmly clasping the banner in his left hand, the recruit raises his right hand high and distinctly opens three fingers, a symbol of his faith in the Holy Trinity. 
Then, he confirms the oath, proclaiming:
“I, [name of the new guard], swear diligently and faithfully to abide by all that has just been read out to me, so grant me God and so help me his Saints.”
The patron saints of the Guard include St. Martin, St. Sebastian, and St. Nicholas of Flue, “Defensor Pacis et pater patriae.”

You Can't Fix Stupid

 

Bishop Ägidius Zsifkovics

 An Austrian bishop has rejected the government’s request to build a border fence on land owned by a parish in Moschendorf, a town of 400 along the Hungarian border.
Acknowledging the “difficult situation” surrounding migration, Bishop Ägidius Zsifkovics of Eisenstadt said that a border fence on Church property would be “contrary to the spirit of the Gospel and the clear message of Pope Francis.”
Bishop Zsifkovics also said that the proposed fence evoke painful memories of the Iron Curtain.

A couple of things, Bishop...

Can you name this famous city (also a country!), the one with a giant wall all around it to keep out the infidels?

And the Iron Curtain? Here's what Wikipedia says:

 The Iron Curtain formed the imaginary boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. 

So an actual wall is bad because it would remind people of an imaginary wall? Jeepers...